Design QA

Purpose

To share the importance of Design QA in digital product design, and how it drives forward our goal to solve core web technology problems by building products that offer a context-rich user interface with natural user experiences, so our clients can focus on delivering solutions to their customers.

Scope

Gives an overview of the fields involved in Design QA, the rationale for its importance in product development, and remaining challenges to overcome.

Technology is there for the user

In digital product design often the primary focus is on the technology, with less focus on optimizing the interface and the experience for the user.

Human Experience and Interaction

To achieve the goal, in addition to our work, we have to make sure that the design gets implemented as intended. Here comes the design QA.

(Other than functionality, the designer examines the appearance and consistency.)

Why is it important that design work is coded to closely if not perfectly match the actual designs?

Neuroscience, psychology and consistency in design

• To build a good product, we need to understand how human beings experience and interact with the world.
• UX and UI are based on that knowledge about user interaction and user interface. This is all about the user.
• The more sensory and perceptual systems are engaged in the interest of achieving the desired goal, the more memorable and enjoyable the experience, and the more likely the user is to achieve the goal quickly and accurately.
• Technology should respond to users with color, form, motion, sound, and tactile assets. These should be constructed in such a way as to optimize the user’s experience and interaction.
• Everything is cohesive, intentional, and well-thought-out. It’s as the designer originally intended, and as such, each element in the design was created with a certain awareness of its surrounding elements.
• One of the main characteristics of good product design is consistency. Over time as a product is designed and developed inconsistencies inevitably crop up. Over time this can add up and turn into “design debt.”

Design debt

In short, design debt is all the good design concepts or solutions that are skipped in order to reach short-term goals. It’s all the corners we cut during or after the design stage.

Challenges within Design QA

• Teams or companies do not understand or value design enough to create a process that fosters good design outcomes → “the feature works”
• People don’t see the difference between a design and a poorly coded version of it → “looks good enough to me”
• The focus of teams is on speed and feature delivery, and visual integrity is easier to cut than coding → “we don’t have time for it”

The importance of Design QA in digital product design

Common practice is to wait for Design QA until the product is almost ready to ship, but that way many features would have to be coded again to fix UI and interaction issues, potentially causing other unforeseen issues.

If Design QA is incorporated in the process then features are approved and signed off in one requirement ticket, which:

• Keeps the UX Designer in the loop for technical issues
• Improve collaboration
• Helps build the correct interface as the product develops
• Saves time